Supported by Arca Architects, community enterprise Projekts MCR has submitted a planning application to transform its site under the Mancunian Way into a “national centre of excellence” for skateboarding.

Projekts currently operates the skatepark off the A6 in Ardwick, just outside the city centre, but has set out plans to expand its current base to include additional space for skating, an office, a café, and a viewing deck.

The not-for-profit organisation plans to expand the skatepark over a redundant slip road to the west, which will link to the existing skate park to the east of the site. Office space for Projekts will be located at the centre, and the external viewing deck will overlook both parks.

The group rents the space from Manchester City Council and has agreed a part-funding deal with Sport England via a grant, and said it has “other funding sources in the pipeline” for the £400,000 investment. A long-term let with the council was agreed earlier this year.

This investment is part of Projekts’ ambition to make Manchester what it claims would be “the world’s first city of skateboarding, [which] encourages skateboarding as a form of transport, fun and creative expression through improvements to infrastructure”.

Projekts said the expansion would help to “demystify” the sport and increase participation from ethnic minority groups and women, as well as making the skatepark “a national centre of excellence for the teaching and demonstration of skateboarding and wheeled extreme sports”.

The organisation said in recent years outreach programmes had helped to increase participation by women in skateboarding by 79%.

The design will also help to make the skatepark more accessible to disabled people and will introduce events space alongside other improved facilities including toilets and bathrooms.

Arca Architects, based in Altrincham, is headed up by John Lee, who is also a senior lecturer at Manchester School of Architecture.

ProjektsMCR agreed a new long-term lease on the site earlier this year

Agree with Victor – if they are contained – but they won’t be. They will want to do stuff the others aren’t doing etc. etc. ‘be original’ And yes I am quite shocked when I see that some of these people look about 40 yrs of age and they are wrecking the stairs of a historical building. Why?

Victor and Bob seriously need to calm down. I’m sorry people having fun upsets you but skateboarding is not a crime. For me personally it was a fantastic outlet in a town where there was nothing else to do for young people. Of course there is a time and place and this will certainly be one of them. But skateboarding is such a fantastic culture, promoting togetherness and patience (something lacking in this world). The more who get involved the merrier and seeing older people still skate warms my heart. Since it shows some don’t forget there roots for a false sense of being “superior”

Fantastic, London are great at this, making young people feel included and more importantly creating free entertainment and vibrancy, some of these people are seriously talented! Eddie Smith recently mentioned you know when you’ve succeeded as a city because you want to roller skate your way around, Manchester isn’t there yet. Inclusion, great to finally see Manchester embrace this however I would bring it into the heart of the city rather than under a dirty, dingy bypass. They’re only seen as a nuisance as they have nowhere decent to go.

Yes I do need a night out – and don’t get enough of them but that’s another matter. During my work at the university I was plagued by the skateboarders leaving their Monika to show they had ‘skated there’ there is really no need for this and it was private property. Be together – be vibrant, but if you are old enough be grown up enough not to wreck what isn’t yours to wreck. Not sure how it is expensive – is it paying fines for damage? Anyway – as I said if its in its place its fine. If its damaging other stuff don’t agree.

This is a good idea as hopefully it will stop them clanking around in every public square and mithering people. I think it gets beyond a joke when they start breaking the steps around the cenotaph which happened a few years go. Tinkerbell says that London is very good at inclusivity. See how long that inclusivity lasts if they start jumping around the royal palaces on Pall Mall. London has vast parks so they are not in your face like they are in Cathedral gardens which is now not even worth sitting in.

S8kter Boi you are silly! And probably still into Alice Lavine! You know exactly what we are on about. don’t see that many cyclists bumping down the steps of St George’s hall? Or on the fancy stone benches along the strand do we – as they would hurt themselves. But if they did their tyres probably wouldn’t wreck the stone…………